Massive global search and destroy mission against ZeroAccess Malware.

The “botnet,” a group of connected programs, is used to redirect queries in search engines owned by companies such as Google Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft, to certain sites to steal money generated by ad clicks. It also creates automated Web traffic that simulates users’ clicks on ads, for which advertisers pay.

“Due to its botnet architecture, ZeroAccess is one of the most robust and durable botnets in operation today and was built to be resilient to disruption efforts,” Microsoft said in the statement. The malware relies “on a peer-to-peer infrastructure that allows cybercriminals to remotely control the botnet from tens of thousands of different computers.”